Relentless Rockies making an unexpected postseason push
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
Don’t look now, but the Colorado Rockies are on a hot streak. Even with the devastating loss of rookie sensation Trevor Story, who appears to be lost for the season with a thumb injury, the Rockies continue scoring runs and winning games.
On Wednesday, they made it two straight over the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning a 12-2 blowout at Coors Field. That moved their season record to 54-53, which puts them over .500 for the first time since May 18. That’s significant not only in the context of this season, but also their recent history as a doormat in the National League West.
I'm sure this has been said elsewhere but the Rockies haven't been better than six games below .500 this late in the season since 2010.
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) August 4, 2016
The 2016 Rockies have a confidence not recently seen in Rockies teams. That’s evidenced in their MLB-best 14-5 since the All-Star break. The Rockies have been driven by a relentless approach on offense and also some resilience, as they’ve overcome injuries and disappointing performances in the rotation and bullpen to stay relevant. That’s put them in a position to be a lot more than afterthoughts down the stretch, which is a welcome change.
In fact, at present time, Colorado is only three games out of the second wild-card spot.
This series with Los Angeles has been a good example of their relentless nature. For the second straight day, they put it on a Dodgers team that’s been challenged by pitching injuries and may have had its focus elsewhere given the Yasiel Puig drama. Colorado scored five in the first on Wednesday and kept piling on, scoring four in the fifth and three more in the sixth inning.
The only downside was Carlos Gonzalez turning his ankle on an aggressive swing and being helped off the field. The early reports don’t sound terribly concerning, though obviously any stretch without Gonzalez would weaken them. Colorado has a deeper roster than we’re used to seeing though, so it will be interesting to see how they hold up. If this isn’t the year, perhaps there’s at least reason for hope in the years to come.
TOP PERFORMERS
J.D. Martinez: How’s this for a happy return? In his first at-bat off the disabled list, Martinez launched a solo homer against Chris Sale that propelled Detroit to a 2-1 win against the White Sox. Martinez hadn’t appeared in a major-league game since June 16, when he suffered a broken elbow crashing into the outfield wall. But he showed Detroit what its been missing. By the way, Detroit has won eight straight now and is only two games back in the AL Central.
Joe Mauer: The face of the Twins franchise is going crazy this week against Indians pitching. In Wednesday’s 13-5 win, Mauer went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and four RBIs. In the first three games of the series, he’s a combined 10-for-15 with seven total extra-base hits and eight runs scored. Minnesota has won all three games and outscored Cleveland 35-16 with one game left on Thursday afternoon.
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Mark Teixeira: Don’t count out the Yankees first baseman just yet. Despite rumors of a potential release, he was a huge part of Wednesday’s 9-5 win against the Mets. Teixeira reached four times and scored three runs, including launching a three-run homer against Steven Matz. Teixeira also had some words for Matz after being hit by a pitch, so he was locked in on every level.
Zach Britton: Baltimore’s closer made a little history in a 3-2 win against Texas. With a scoreless ninth inning, Britton became the first left-handed pitcher to record 33 consecutive saves to begin a season.
Zach Britton’s 33 consecutive saves to start a season are the most by a left-handed pitcher in @MLB history. #Birdland @zbritton
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 4, 2016
Baltimore won its second straight against Texas after scoring three quick runs against Cole Hamels in the first inning. Hamels was untouchable from that moment on, keeping the pressure on Baltimore’s staff. Kevin Gausman answered with seven innings of two-run ball, while Darren O’Day and Britton brought it home.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
For the second time in four days, a wild pitch led to a Chicago Cubs victory. On Sunday, Mariners’ closer Steve Cishek uncorked a wild one that allowed Chicago to cap a three-run ninth-inning rally and ultimately win in extra innings. On Wednesday, Marlins’ closer A.J. Ramos completely fell apart in the ninth inning, allowing three runs on two hits and thee walks (one intentional), with the decisive run scoring on a wild pitch. Cubs take it 5-4 to complete a 7-1 homestand.
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Angels 8, A’s 6: The Angels won an absolute thriller thanks to Albert Pujols walk-off homer in the ninth inning.
Padres 12, Brewers 3: San Diego solved the previously unhittable Junior Guerra, knocking him around for four runs in four innings before they unloaded on Milwaukee’s revamped bullpen. Yangervis Solarte led the way with three hits, three RBIs and four runs scored.
Nationals 8, Diamondbacks 3: Washington completes a three-game sweep in which they outscored Arizona 32-8.
Rays 12, Royals 0: Tampa lit up Edinson Volquez, scoring eight runs (seven earned) over his five innings. Jake Odorizzi hurled six scoreless.
Cardinals 5, Reds 4: After a painful blown save on Tuesday, Seung-Hwan Oh bounced back to secure a tight one-run win on Wednesday.
Braves 8, Pirates 4: After Pittsburgh scored four in the first, Atlanta rattled off eight unanswered to stun the struggling Pirates.
Blue Jays 3, Astros 1: Toronto got two solo homers from Josh Donaldson and a third from Jose Bautista in support of Marco Estrada.
Phillies 5, Giants 4: Philadelphia rallied from a 4-0 deficit to deny Johnny Cueto his 14th win. The Phillies won in 12 innings on Maikel Franco’s walk-off single.
Mariners 3, Red Sox 1: Seattle got solo home runs from Nelson Cruz, Mike Zunino and Adam Lind, not to mention 7 1/3 scoreless innings from Hisashi Iwakuma. That’s a solid win.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
